Refrigeration apparatus



Mwh 19, 1940.

T. W. RUNDELL BEFRIGERATION APPARATUSy Filed Dec. 9, 1938 u l i s I I n l l, l n n n I s l WITNESSES: @www 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l NV E N TO R 17715000165 M2M/DELL- www@ f ATTORNE Filedpec. 9. 1938 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR F1a-onces YX EUA/DELL.

WITNESSES: www 5. a. 2,5.

Patented Mgr. 1 9, f 215194,177- 4 UNrrEDl STATES "PATENT OFFICE asmomzrrmrus A Theodore W.v Runde, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse lliectiic-A & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh. Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Appunti@ vDecember s, 193s, serial Neueres ,scisma Another object ofthe invention is to providek a support aifordingv sliding movement forboth a hydrator pan and for a shelf forming the cover l5 of said pan.

A further object of theinvention is to provide v a combined sliding shelf an'd hydrator cover, the latter being formed of a transparent material such as plate glass and positioned in the refriger- 0 ator cabinet t ailord an indication of the humidv ity condition in the hydrator.

Another'object of the invention is to provide a novel stop for a sliding shelf. y These and other objects are eifected by my in- ;5 vention as will be apparent fromthe following descriptionl and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, m which:

Fig. l is an elevational view of s. refrigerator 30 showing the hydrator in its preferred position in the refrigerator cabinet;

- Fig. 2 is an exploded view in perspe hydrator and its supports;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section uve or the `of. the

35 supporting rails and the edge portions of the Referring specifically` to the drawings for a detailed description of the. inventief-,l the referi5 ence numeral I0 designates a food chamber in a mechanical refrigerator A cooling unit |2 is located in the upper portion of the' food chamber Il 'and a hydrator pan I3 and a'shelf Il forming a cover for the pan I3 are supported in so the lower portion ofthe food chamber Il by three slide rails I5, I6 and I'I on each side of the food chamber. i r

The hydrator pan is formed with sidewardly'- extending .flanges I3 which are adapted to slide 55 between the lower two slide rails( Il and I1. The

' One objectof the invention is to provide a'slid- (ci. sz-i) l sliding shelf which forms the cover for the pan 3 comprises'a pane of transparent glass I8 surrounded by a heavywire frame 2|. The glass i9 is secured in the'frame 2| by several fiat metal clips 22. Each metal clip 22 is bent in the shape of an L and welded to the inner surface of the` wire frame 2|. The glass I9 is then inserted on the horizontallegs 23 of the L-shaped clips 22 and the upper portion of the lclips 22 bent down over the glass.

The wire frame 2| containing the glass I9 is adapted' to slide between the uppergtwol rails I3 and II in the sidesof the food chamber I0 so that both the pan I3 and the shelf Il forming the.

' cover can be slid into and out of the food chamber ||i independently of one another.

The three slide rails I3, I8 and on each side are formed by two strips of metal '25 and 28, one

of which is bent longitudinally into an L-shaped section 23 and the other in a U-shaped section 26.' v The two strips 25 and 26 are secured in the sides .rails I3, I3 and I1 are spaced so that Ventilating slits 29 are formed between the cover I4 and the pan I3.

A specially formedlength of'wire3l is welded at three points 32 to the rear portion'of the wire frame 2| and forms 'a backstop to prevent articles supported on theshelf Il lfrom falling from the rear edge thereof when the shelf I4 is suddenly pulled forward.v Both ends 33 of the wire 3| are located immediately above the top rails I3 and arel bent forward as best shown in Fig-i for a purpose to be explained presently.

'I'he top vrails I3 in the food chamber Mi do not extend, forward as far as the other two rails I6 and I1 and the front portions o f these top rails" are curved upwardly to form stops 34 which en.- gage the end portions'33 of the wire 3| when the shelf Il ispulled forward to prevent the shelf Il from being pulled out tooffar. I f itnis intended to' remove the shelf Il from the food chamberv` I0 the front edge of the shelf Il is tilted upwardly when the ends 33 of the wire- 3| strike the stops 3l. 'I'his position is shown in dotted lines in Fig.5. T'hefends of the wire 33 will then be lifted over the stops 3E and/the'shelf Il is free for removal from the food chamber III.

shelf I9 is hydrator pan I3. This'provides an arrangement whereby the humidity conditions in the hydrator v and since the hydrator is'a substantially closed vessel, will tend to saturate the air in the hydrator to the dew-point temperature corresponding to the temperature of the free water. The glass, or at least portions thereof, will be at a temperature below the dew-point temperature of the water vapor in the hydrator, and some of .the vapor will, therefore, condense out on the glass or at least on the coldest portions thereof.

If the humidity in the hydrator is high 'so that the dew-point temperature of the water vapor is higher than any portion of the glass shelf, the entire lower surface of -the glass shelf will be covered with condensed moisture which indicates that the humidity in the hydrator is substantially at `a maximum.

If the humidity in the hydrator is at a lower value so that the dew-point temperature of the water vapor .in the hydrator is above that of the coldest portion of the glass shelf but below Athat of the warmest portion thereof, only the coldest areas of the glass shelf will be covered with the condensed moisture which indicates that the humidity of the hydrator is high but is not at a maximum.

If the humidity in the hydrator is at a still lower value so that the dew-point temperature of the water vapor in the hydrator is below the temperature of even the coldest portion of the glass shelf, moisture will not condense out on the glass shelf which indicates that the `humidity in the hydrator is fairlylow.

The moisture condensed out ,-.on the glass shelf or the lack of'such condensation is therefore an indication of the humidity existing in the hydrator. If this humidity is too low,y sprinkling of the articles therein with water usually lsuffices to raise the humidity to the desired point.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that this invention 'provides a hydrator chamber in a refrigerator, the cover of which chamber forms a sliding shelf in the refrigerator, thereby increasing the accessibility of foods stored on the combined shelf and hydrator cover and dispensing with a separate cover for the hydrator. Furthermore, by forming the hydrator cover of glass, the contents lof the hydrator are readily visible, the humidity of the hydrator chamber'may be checked and the glass gives the appearance of depth to the refrigerator interior which other- Wise would appear smaller becauseof the space which the hydrator occupies. The invention further provides a'novel locking mechanism for a sliding shelf.

While I have-shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritv thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as Vare specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a food storage chamber having an opening therein, a

door for said opening, a cooling unit for said chamber, a substantially imperforate and transparent glass shelf below said cooling unit, a metal frame secured around said shelf, said shelf being adapted for a horizontal sliding movement through said opening, and a hydrator pan below said shelf, said pan being adapted for horizontal sliding movement through said opening independently of said shelf, said shelf forming a cover for said pan.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of a food storage chamber having an opening therein, a door for said opening, a cooling unit in the upper portion of said chamber, a hydrator pan adapted for horizontal sliding motion in the lower portion ofv the food chamber, and a plurality of shelves between the hydrator pan and the cooling unit, the lowermost of said shelves comprising a transparent sheet of glass adapted for horizontal sliding movement and placed adjacent said hydrator pan to form a cover therefor affording limited degree of ventilation to said pan, said glass shelf affording a view of the hydrator pan and the moisture condition therein. said glass also affording a complete view of the food storage capacity of the food chamber through the door opening.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a food storage chamber having an opening therein, a door for said opening, a cooling unit for said chamber, a yseries of three horizontal rails secured'to each side of the food storage chamber, said rails comprising two metal strips, one formed in L-section andthe other in U-section, a transparent glass shelf below said cooling unit, a metal frame secured around said shelf, said frame being adapted to slide between the upper two rails of each of said seriesand a hydrator pan having outturned fianges, said flanges being adapted to slide between the lower two rails of each of said' series, said rails affording independent sliding movement to both said shelf and said hydrator and being spaced so that the shelf forms a cover for the hydrator pan.

4, In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination of a food storage chamber having an opening in its front wall, a substantially horizontal slide rail on a side wall of said chamber, a retaining rail spaced above said slide rail, said retaining rail terminating short of said slide rail at the front end thereof and having an upwardlyextending portion forming a stop, and a shelf adapted to slide in the space between the slide rail and the retaining rail, said shelf having a stop engaging portion normally above said retaining rail and positioned a short distance in advance of the rear sliding edge of the shelf so that said stopengaging portion will strike said stop when the shelf is pulled forward but will disengage said stop when` the shelf is tilted upwardly when in the stop engaging position.

5. A refrigerator cabinet according to claim 4 in which the stop engaging portion is extended to form a guard on the shelf.

6. In a refrigerator, the combination of a food storage chamber having an opening therein, a door for said opening, a cooling unit in said chamber, a substantially imperforate and transparent glass shelf below said cooling unit, said shelf being adapted for horizontal sliding movement through said opening, and a. hydrator pan below said shelf and in a warmer region of the food storage chamber than the region of said shelf, said shelf serving to indicate the humidity condition in the hydrator by the area of condensed water.vapor on its underside.

THEODORE W. RUNDELL. 

